How much will Pritzker’s ‘fair tax’ cost your family?

Gov. J.B. Pritzker claims his progressive income tax will only affect the rich. But the typical Illinois family would face $3,500 in tax hikes to pay for Pritzker's spending promises.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker is pushing to eliminate Illinois’ flat income tax protection in order to pass a progressive income tax hike, which Pritzker has dubbed a “fair tax.”

The governor claims his plan will raise $3.4 billion. But that’s not enough to cover the $14 billion to $19 billion in new spending Pritzker has promised. In order to pay for that, the typical family would see an income tax hike of up to $3,500.

To see how much your family would pay under Pritzker’s progressive tax plan, as well as what your family should be paying under Springfield’s last round of tax promises, use the tax hike calculator below.

Find out how much the progressive tax will cost you

Number of persons in your household

Deductions

Current income tax(4.95%)$0

Pritzker "fair tax"(4.75% - 7.95%)$0

Promised income tax(3.75%)$0

Under Pritzker's "fair tax," you would still pay $0 more than you should.

Illinoisans shouldered a record income tax increase in 2011, bringing the income tax rate to 5%. Illinois lawmakers promised the tax hike would partially sunset in 2014 to 3.75%, and sunset again in 2025 to 3.25%. But state lawmakers broke their sunset promise in 2017 with the largest permanent income tax hike in state history, hiking the rate back up to 4.95%.

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The governor’s tax plan is ultimately a political promise. Pritzker promises a majority of Illinoisans would see a tax cut. But Illinois lawmakers made the same promise regarding the “temporary” income tax hike from 2011-2014. In 2017, Illinois lawmakers broke that promise – passing the largest permanent tax hike in state history, with the typical family seeing a tax hike of around $800.